Holographic Universe

As you know if you stop by here often there are a few things that I like to talk about, mainly the universe, and philosophy and my favorite is how they two intertwine. There are tons of theories out there about the universe and what it actually is and so many other things. There are two that I particularly like to talk about and discuss. The first being that the universe is a giant computer program, I have already talked about this one, and that post can be found here, so we will put that idea on the back burner for now. The other idea that I had always had a very hard time visualizing, until now, was that the universe is a hologram theory and has always been very hard to understand, at least to me. Well recently there has been some experiments that suggest that this is indeed the case, we are living in a 2D universe that is projected as a 3D hologram.

The first time I heard this I was trying and no matter how hard I tired I could not wrap my small brain around this idea, or visualize how it was possible. Scientist say that they have some very strong evidence to suggest that this is the case, and if it is true could be a giant step in unifying Einstein’s theories with quantum physics. Today this is one of the major problems plaguing scientist, there is a massive divide between what Einstein said and what quantum physics says about the universe. Basically that we have two sets of rules, one to govern the really big stuff (planets and starts) and another set of rules to govern the infinitely small stuff (atoms, strings and individual particles). From what I have gathered if this theory is true it could close this gap and give us a better picture of the universe.

All the articles I found basically are saying the same thing, and here is a quote from this article that I think sums the idea up. There is also another article here, that also says the same thing.

“The holographic principle, simply put, is the idea that our three-dimensional reality is a projection of information stored on a distant, two-dimensional surface. Like the emblem on your credit card, the two-dimensional surface holds all the information you need to describe a three-dimensional object — in this case, our universe.”

When this idea was first put forth, mathematically it seemed to only work in plane with negative curvature. Think of a saddle for a horse, it has two high ends and dips in the middle and the opposite corners also dip. If you have having trouble visualizing this just Google saddle shaped universe or negative curvature space. Somehow recently scientist found that this also works for flat space, which is what most think our universe is. This is really nuts to think about but, and that is a big one, I think to me this could still suggest that if our universe is a hologram that is could also be a computer program.

From what I have read about this it seems that if it were a 2D hologram it would require less information which that 3rd dimension would require. So by having 3 dimensions projected on a 2D plane it seems that it would take less computing power to run our universe if it were a computer program. I am not saying this is the case but there have been studies done at universities that suggest that we are in fact living in a computer program. I think that is very hard to believe but if this holographic theory is true then it makes a little more sense as I would think this would be easier to manage from a data standpoint as well as less glitches and other problems with the program itself.

The strange thing to think about is if the universe is a hologram is that what nature came up with or was it made that way? If it is indeed natural then I think that is the most bizarre thing I have ever heard of and would love to talk to someone about how nature could have possible chosen this path. I would think that it is near impossible for this series of events to come to fruition, but I have also said that about humans being alive, yet here we are. Just seems very odd that nature would choose flat space time, then have a 3D projection on 2 dimensional space. It just seems very odd to me but perhaps this is the only way things could have worked out to create intelligent life.

I find this all very bizarre and really do not know what it means in the grand scheme of things. Although for no other reason than I think it would be really cool, and I think it makes a little bit of sense, if the universe is indeed a 3D hologram I think that greatly increased the odds that it is also a highly advanced computer program. So there are a lot of “if’s” in there but if a few of them turn out to be true, then a whole other can of worms is opened. Like the obvious who created the computer program? I guess another bigger question is that if this is indeed a program does that make it any less real? That is a question that each of us will have to answer on our own. I would argue no, that this is as real as it gets, but technically this would not be reality. Now we are getting into a whole other mess, so I will just leave it at that. At the end of the day we will all have to decide for ourselves if it comes to that.